1 Ivory bust: Customs officials in Hong Kong said Friday that their third large seizure of smuggled ivory in less than three months, saying they had intercepted 779 elephant tusks weighing 2,900 pounds in a container originating from Kenya. The shipment was valued at around $1.4 million. Demand from an increasingly affluent Asia and improved international trade and transport links have caused the trade in ivory and other wildlife products to soar in recent years, pushing many species to the brink.

2 Ailing leader: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is being treated for "respiratory deficiency" after complications from a severe lung infection, his government said, pointing to a deepening crisis for the ailing 58-year-old president. Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since his Dec. 11 cancer surgery in Cuba, and the latest report from his government Thursday night increased speculation that he is unlikely to be able to be sworn in for another term as scheduled in less than a week.

3 Ransom paid:Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. paid about $187,000 to free four abducted South Korean workers and their local colleague, a lucrative ransom showing the continuing allure of kidnapping in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, police said Friday. Despite the billions of dollars flowing into Nigeria's government, many in the delta remain desperately poor, living amid polluted waters without access to proper medical care, education or jobs. The poor conditions sparked an uprising in 2006 by militants and opportunistic criminals who blow up oil pipelines and kidnap foreign workers.

4 Syria violence: Syrian ground and air forces bombarded rebel strongholds on the outskirts of Damascus and other areas around the country Friday while antigovernment forces targeted a military post near the capital with a car bomb, activists said. Britain's Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said warplanes targeted neighborhoods around the capital including Douma, which troops have been trying to recapture for weeks.

5 Auschwitz visitors: The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site in southern Poland registered 1.43 million visitors last year, a record number in its 65-year history as a place of Holocaust remembrance, officials said Friday. For several years now, the grounds of the former Nazi death camp have registered record numbers of visitors. The largest group of visitors - 446,000 - were from Poland, followed by large numbers from Britain, the United States, Italy, Germany, Israel and many other countries.

7 Gender mixing: Saudi Arabia's top cleric on Friday warned against the mixing of the genders, saying it poses a threat to female chastity and society, as the kingdom prepares for the first time to grant women seats on the country's top advisory body. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheikh said authorities must adhere to Shariah, or Islamic law, by ensuring men and women are separated as much as possible at all times.